The present invention is generally directed to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to a new and improved electrical connector for facilitating the electrical connection of flat wire cable conductors to external terminals on printed wiring board modules or the like.
The increasing practice, particularly in sophisticated electronics fields, exemplified by the computer industry, to modularize and miniaturize electronic circuitry has provoked the problem of finding more efficient and reliable means for interconnecting the individual circuit modules. The module interconnnections should preferably be effected to facilitate module replacement or removal for servicing, yet provide consistent, low resistance paths between the modules during normal circuit operation.
One partial solution to this problem has been the introduction of flat wire cables. Such cables generally include a plurality of parallel side-by-side conductors which are insulated and spaced apart from one another by the insulating material. The insulating material is usually composed of a suitable flexible plastic, such as polyester, so that the conductors are easily routed between modules.
In an attempt to provide an intimate contact between the parallel conductors and the circuit modules, connectors have been developed which include a plurality of contacts for engaging the conductors, each contact being connected to a respective terminal for mating with complementary external terminals on the modules. The connectors developed heretofore to serve the above-mentioned function have not proved entirely satisfactory in practice. One deficiency in such prior art connectors has been their inability to provide a consistent low resistance electrical path between the conductors and the modules. It has been found that the undesirably high resistance has been the result of the connectors including contacts which pierce and contact the conductors perpendicular to the axes of the conductors. Because the contacts are relatively narrow, only limited surface contact is established between the conductors and the connector contacts of the prior art.
Another deficiency in prior art connectors has been the requirement of hardware external to the conductors to provide strain relief for the conductors. As a result, prior art connectors affording strain relief have been comprised of an exhorbitant number of individual parts making such connectors difficult to assemble and use, and unnecessarily expensive.
The invention is therefore directed to a new and improved connector for making broad intimate surface contact with a conductor to thereby provide a low resistance contact between the conductor and the electrical components to which it is connected.
The invention is further directed to a connector for making intimate contact with the conductor of an insulated conductor which pierces and strips the insulation parallel to and immediately adjacent a longitudinal portion of the conductor and which includes a contact portion which exerts a force against the base conductor normal to the conductor for making broad intimate surface contact with the conductor.
The invention is also directed to a connector for making intimate contact with each of a plurality of parallel conductors insulated from one another and which includes internal strain relief means for the conductors.
The invention is additionally directed to a connector for making broad intimate surface contact with each of a plurality of parallel conductors insulated from one another which is easy to use and which provides for the external connection of the conductors to terminals carried by printed circuit boards or the like.